Home > New Field Partner: Health care services become more accessible in rural Kenya through Motorbank

New Field Partner: Health care services become more accessible in rural Kenya through Motorbank

Kiva couldn’t be happier to announce its new partnership with Motorbank Kenya[1]!

More and more, organizations are designing loans geared toward meeting specific social needs -- in this case -- the need for health care services in rural Kenya. On top of that, it's great when a loan benefits several groups of people at the same time -- motorcycle drivers, healthcare workers and patients.

Easing transportation challenges and helping community health workers (CHWs) provide on-time service in remote areas, the BodAfya loan developed by Motorbank Kenya[2] supports the organization’s social mission.

How does the BodAfya loan work? According to the loan agreement, a CHW will take a motorcycle loan and will spend 2 to 3 days per week visiting patients and providing health care service including consultations, monitoring of HIV treatment, mother-child health counseling and more.

BodAfya loans help CHWs reach more people during their community health visit days. Once the visits are done, Motorbank lets the CHW continue to use the motorcycle as a taxi service to bring income home to support their family.

[3]A boda boda driver in Kenya.

Boda boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers can also obtain BodAfya loans to improve their livelihoods. A driver takes a BodAfya loan from Motorbank to purchase a motorcycle and spends one day per week driving a CHW to their community health visits.

The driver is assigned to a specific CHW and drives them for free to make community health visits. On the other days, motorcycle drivers use their taxi to earn money through community taxi services, courier services and more.

Motorbank Kenya is a microfinance institution that helps people purchase their own motorcycles. It’s the only social enterprise that specializes in hire-purchase plans that enable its customers to acquire motorcycles and play a positive role in the community while enhancing their livelihoods.

[4]Motorcycle drivers taking a rural road in Kenya.

Kiva is happy to partner with Motorbank to continue making a positive impact on poor people in remote areas. Kiva is also excited to support BodAfya loans because they help drivers improve their lives while giving communities better access to quality health care services.

If you're interested in helping drivers in Kenya improve their living standards and improving people’s access to health care services in rural areas, this partner is the right choice for you!